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Europeans in the 'New World' by D.Hyman et.al. Desire for Mineral Wealth Trade Technology Overland Trade Route Wind System and Ocean Currents The renaissance took Europe out of the Middle Ages, a time were life was centered around the afterlife, to a period of art, creativity, literature and expansion and Spain much improvement in sailing and navigation. Marco Polo was one of the first Europeans to make a successful trip from Europe to Asia and wrote about the riches of China. Yet for two centuries they could not make any more trips because of the Moors. During the war, Europeans were attempting to take back their lands from Moors, while converting these Muslims to Christians and in addition to European slaves.Columbus an Italian sailor read this book and wanted to find the long lost world of Marco Polo. The only route to Asia was known as the Silk Route and the treasures that they hoped to get would be too much to take back this way. Prince Henry of Portugal, established a school of navigation at Sagres, of the coast of Portugal. Bartholomew Diaz and Vasco de Gama, two of his students, were able to find a route to Asia- by sailing around the African Continent but Colombus decided another route could be sailing westward across the Atlantic. He asked kings, queens from Portugal and England but Queen Isabella of Spain decided to support Columbus. And so on August 3, 1492 with three ships. The Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria he and some sailors decided to start the journey. There had been several false alarms on the ship where sailors thought that they had spotted land. An issue arose on the ship when the compass changed directions and the sailors were concerned that they were no longer sailing north. (winds and ocean currents)On October 7th, the direction of the ships was altered in order to follow a flock of birds that had flown over the ship. On October 9th, Columbus and the crew thought about turning back but at 2am on the morning of October 12th land was sited by Rodrigo de Triana. The island was called Guanahani by its natives and San Salvador by Columbus. A Taino cacique invited Colombus on shore and gave him a feast of sweet potatoes, cassava and masks of gold. He then complained about the Caribs and the Admiral comforted him by telling the Cacique he would defend them against the cruel Kalinagos. Desire for Mineral Wealth The desire to gain mineral riches pushed European expansion. Countries measured their wealth in the amount of gold and silver (bullion) that it physically held. It was, therefore, in the best interest of each country to secure as much of the world's bullion as possible. Since this theory held that one nation could only prosper at the expense of another, voyages of exploration were seen as necessary to find new lands and untapped reserves of bullion before other competing nations found them. Trade The desire to trade served as a motivating factor for European exploration and eventual settlement in the 'New World'. Prior to their arrival in the Americas, their focus of trade was in the East. European products such as linen cloth, wine, furs and woollen goods were exchanged for jewels, ivory, gold, perfume, cotton, silk, coffee, dye and spices. Merchants, adventurers and government officials were optimistic of finding precious metals and expanding the areas of trade, especially for the spices of the East. Many of these spices were used to preserve meat, as well as to add flavour to food. Overland Trade Route Arab traders who had a monopoly on the trade route primarily provided these spices. These overland trade routes were quite dangerous since they were plagued by bandits. Caravans that could take very little goods and experienced a long journey also traversed the route. The Portuguese thus sought to achieve a sea route to the East to trade with India and China for these spices. The Portuguese sought to gain access to the spice trade by sailing eastwards through the Indian Ocean. Later, the Spanish, aiming to decrease Portugal's trade in the East, sought after an alternative trade route to the East. It was this desire by Spain to find an alternative trade route to the East that would see Christopher Columbus reaching the Americas. See an interactive route Technology Technology also served as another important factor for European exploration beginning in the 1400s. The Renaissance had produced a period of immense learning and discovery. This entailed an increase in ideas in science, politics, religion and geography. Europeans had developed remarkably seaworthy ships and had learned how to build ships large and strong enough to sail in any waters. Their cartographic skills improved to the point where Europeans had accurate maps of the known world. Before, sailors had to rely on hand-drawn maps (portolani) which were usually inaccurate. In addition, they developed new navigational instruments such as the compass and the astrolabe. The compass showed in what direction a ship was moving and the astrolabe used the sun or star to ascertain a ship's latitude. Quadrant Compass Astrolabe Other devices included the quadrant, hourglass, sextant, sundial and cross-staff. In addition, there was an improvement in ship designs. Bigger ships were built that could carry a larger amount of traded goods. These ships were known as carracks. These new technologies provided the Europeans with the catalyst to undertake exploration. Religion Religion was another important factor that prompted European exploration and settlement of the Americas. By 1492, the Spanish and Portuguese had driven the Muslims Moors out of Europe. The Catholic faith was an integral part of European life and, as such, there was a deep desire to spread the faith to 'pagan' peoples. Religious zeal was high among the adventurers who went out to explore on behalf of their nation. This saw them exploring in the aim of spread Christianity to distant lands.It is these significant changes in 15th century Europe that accounted for extensive maritime exploration. Wind System and Ocean Currents The trade winds were important in European exploration as this was the wind system which would take the Europeans from Europe to the Americas. The currents, specifically the North Equatorial Current and the South Equatorial Current (they flowed east to west), were equally important as they took the ships back out of the Caribbean.